The Jones Garage Addition

[jonesmechanical]

The office is really getting that old warehouse feel to it, are you using the 7" planks on the floor up there or just garage roof?

Your desk going in the widow, so the neighbour's can see up ya trouser leg.

Great work again with the lights..............

Lol. The desk will go opposite of the stairwell, under the other matching pendants. The plank wood will install on the ceiling and will be used as base and trim molding. But yes, the neighbor has a good view. I will have a power vertical shade, so When the secretary visits (my wife), it can go down. The office/loft will also act as a bunk room if needed for a house crasher if the space is needed.

 

[patlalande123]

Crazy looking garage there! i love every aspect of detail you pay such close attention to, and obvious your art is in HVAC, mine definitely is in plumbing! Licensed Plumber over here in Canada.
With that being said, whats up with that toilet you were talking about, i saw the sink but didn't see anything about the toilet on the link you posted, maybe I'm not understanding something here lol.
if you have anymore info that would be cool!

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I like your aluminum floor for the hoist opening. I haven't seen (or missed) the details on how you will pick them up when you need to bring things up.

I see that the planks are 6" wide and 10# each. Just not sure how you are going to pick them up easily when needed.

I stand in awe of your setup. It make good fiscal sense to me . . .

Cheers

Jim

 

[jonesmechanical]

Crazy looking garage there! i love every aspect of detail you pay such close attention to, and obvious your art is in HVAC, mine definitely is in plumbing! Licensed Plumber over here in Canada.
With that being said, whats up with that toilet you were talking about, i saw the sink but didn't see anything about the toilet on the link you posted, maybe I'm not understanding something here lol.
if you have anymore info that would be cool!

Thankyou! As far as the toilet goes, there is no conventional plumbing to it. It rear discharges into a tank about 12" tall, and about 24" wide. It doesn't take up any more space than a conventional toilet. It has a mascerating toilet. It grinds up the bad stuff (including toilet paper) and then sends it on its way. The original toilet I had selected was a SaniFlo, but after doing the math, the 15' lift wasn't enough to get to my second story plumbing vent that it would drain into. My plumber friend found another toilet that had a 25' lift, and then it can gravity drop from there up to 100' away. It uses 1" pvc on the discharge, and requires a water supply line, and 110V electrical. It has worked through the construction process flawlessly.

The sink I selected will be here this week, I found one online at the Ikea store that was just perfect. Had a great friend pick it up and ship it to me.

 

[jonesmechanical]

I like your aluminum floor for the hoist opening. I haven't seen (or missed) the details on how you will pick them up when you need to bring things up.

I see that the planks are 6" wide and 10# each. Just not sure how you are going to pick them up easily when needed.

I stand in awe of your setup. It make good fiscal sense to me . . .

Cheers

Jim

Thank you for the compliment Jim. Cheers to you!

The plank floor (purchased through McNichols Corporation) called Diamond Back Flooring.

Here is a link:
http://www.mcnichols.com/products/trade-name/diamondback/?pageCode=contentproducts

As far as removing a section, I have been just taking out my car key, and lift one end of the 5' plank (6" wide like you mentioned) and pull it out. From there, its very easy to pull out additional planks until the desired width is achieved.

I have decided to make it a bit easier and simpler. I am going to tig weld 4 sections together. I will then hinge two of the sections so them meet in the center and install a recessed handle on to each of the welded together panels. It will make it much safer and simpler when removing panels. It will take a bit of engineering and fitting as the hinge point of the welded together panels creates a binding point because of the floorings 2" thickness. I don't want there to be any gaps, so I will likely have to eliminate one of the extrusions where the panes meet each other so they can meet tight.

Welding the panels together will also stiffen up the flooring tremendously as it will spread the load out between multiple panes. For example, right now if you walk across it, in the middle of the span, if you place one foot only on one of the 6" wide planks, the plank deflects about 3/16". With 1/4" plywood laying over, it becomes completely solid as it spreads the load over multiple panels.

Hopefully that makes sense. The planks are deceivingly light. Welding together a few panels with a hinge point won't present any issues with weight. 30-40 lbs per section isn't bad at all. If the whole floor needs to be removed (a rare occurrence I imagine) then It would take a two people to safely remove it.

 

[Mike.ASC]

Very nice work sir . Looking forward to seeing more .

Mike

 

[Byronrx]

Great lookin addition Greg, cant wait to see it next time we're up your way. Got me inspired to finally get my garage organized and inventoried... Got a new rollaway and set of tools for my birthday, threw out all the mix matched cheepos... Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Thanks B. Things are going well. I picked up all of the barn wood this week. And started the ceilings and trim today, about 7 hours worth. It was a ton of work to sort out the random widths (between 4"-7" wide). Mostly about 7' lengths.

I couldn't be happier. My wife wants to do it in the house. I think she is on to me. I am exposing some new found skills. Its was great also, I bundled the wood with some straps right out of the back of the trailer and hoisted it up to the second level. It was awesome.

I got about 1/2 done with the ceiling. I am back on forth what to do with the can lights and the speakers, paint the brown, paint them "chrome" or leave them. I think I like them white.

Last week I picked up a Drill Press just a few minutes away. Its a late 50's early 60's craftsman model 150. Works like a dream. Another win for the hoist setup. The guy I bought it from helped me lift it in the truck. It was tough just two of us. When I got home, I pulled in, pulled a section of the floor out, and in minutes it was upstairs and I slid it in place alone!! I purchased the press for $100, new in 1960 it was $125 lol.

Outside the soffit and facia guys finished everything. Its was a pita getting it trimmed out around the new timbers. They turned out nice, and for the cost, really add some detail for not much expense.

I was taking pics tonight, and noticed the nice view from my soon to be office chair.

 

[Byronrx]

Weathered wood looks awesome. Maybe you can do some sort of finish on the light and speaker trim that can make them look like aged galvanized metal, like an old milk pail or something

 

[KCarGuy]

I have to say, First off...Great Job on the Addition. It Looks Beautiful!
And even though I am not a Fan of The Aluminum Diamond Plate...Your Stairs turned out Great. I really like that.
And I have seen the use of Used Old Weathered Wood on other GJ walls, which I really like...Your Use looks Really Warm and Inviting.
And the Exposed HVAC Trunks, I also find very Interesting.
Great Job and everything. Thanks for sharing so far.

 

[sneakyfast]

personal opinion only of course but I don't think the white looks good against the weathered trim. too stark of a contrast....I would go with black or brown. Unless there is a way to strip it to bare metal...that would be awesome

 

[UN4GTBL]

Wow that ceiling looks awesome!

 

[Gary E]

Wow Greg welcome to the site. LOL I guess I have been registered for a while. Beautiful Job on all accounts, I may have to hit you up for a tour next time I am out. I wasn't sure about the sheetmetal floors but I dig it and it fits with your Hvac buisness.

This thread needs some blown old school muscle

 

[ODIS]

Great build-out and really like the choices you have made. Applaud your use of Sketch Up. I started SU this past January to design my kitchen cabinets that I will build. A wonderful program that helps to keep our minds challenged and active! Congratulations on all that you have done.

Ody.

 

[STClurker]

Yes, kind of like a "SFLB" short in the front, long in the back. Business up front, party in the back.

not sure what "SFLB" is, but it sounds more like you are describing a mullet

 

[jonesmechanical]

Wow Greg welcome to the site. LOL I guess I have been registered for a while. Beautiful Job on all accounts, I may have to hit you up for a tour next time I am out. I wasn't sure about the sheetmetal floors but I dig it and it fits with your Hvac buisness.

This thread needs some blown old school muscle

Gary!!! Thanks for the compliment. Your cobra looks great. Looks like humpty dumpty got put back together nicely. Your right about the blown old school muscle. One of my favorite searches on ebay is "pro touring". Some seriously great machines out there.

 

[jonesmechanical]

Great build-out and really like the choices you have made. Applaud your use of Sketch Up. I started SU this past January to design my kitchen cabinets that I will build. A wonderful program that helps to keep our minds challenged and active! Congratulations on all that you have done.

Ody.

Thankyou. I recommend Sketchup to anyone who wants to visualize any project. I use it all the time. It was well worth the time investment to learn the program.

 

[nsimps]

Looking great! Very nice work with the ceiling, it goes really well with everything. I'll have to tag along next time Brandon stops by and see check it out

 

[jonesmechanical]

I finished the trim everywhere in the garage (sorry, no pics until the mess is cleaned up, its a disaster), the bathroom took some time. I spend about $100 on a mirror, some bead board, and some chrome spray paint, and these are the results:

The exposed pluming is ABS, and painted with "chrome spray paint", my wife thought it was metal .

I ran out of bead board, so I finished the door wall with the wood. Gives it a bit of a old out house feel. The ikea sink is perfect for the space. The bead board is 1/4" thick, and after mounting the sink to it (of course with proper backing), with the walls finished, its 30" in the clear exactly. No sheetrock was critical to making it fly.

View up the stairs with the ceiling finished:

View from top of stairs looking at the office, to the back yard:

Reverse view:

I am so pleased with the pickle wood. The cost was low at $1.50 per sq ft, or about $.70/linear foot, which is less money than anything. Its impossible to damage it. You nail it in place, and its done. No caulking, no painting, no nothing. Instant finished trim. I can't say that I have ever experienced that.

Even stain grade trim, you have to do tons of work to it before you set it, lots of sanding etc.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Greg, I love it. A lot. My only comment besides your funky toilet (no comment, its just funky ) is that you really should consider changing the white out on the can lights. I think it contrasts poorly with the wood and industrial look you've so cleanly executed. Love the ducting, love the hanging lights, do not like the white rings on the cans.

I will have to remember the chrome spraypaint for ABS plastic pipes in the future! That really cleans it up! Keep up the good work!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Greg, I love it. A lot. My only comment besides your funky toilet (no comment, its just funky ) is that you really should consider changing the white out on the can lights. I think it contrasts poorly with the wood and industrial look you've so cleanly executed. Love the ducting, love the hanging lights, do not like the white rings on the cans.

I will have to remember the chrome spraypaint for ABS plastic pipes in the future! That really cleans it up! Keep up the good work!

I don't know why its not bothering me so much. I thought it would. I will hit one with chrome paint (really give the galvanized look), and one with brown, maybe do one with flat black. I think your right though, it would really clean it up. No getting around the bulbs standing out.

 

[-Brent-]

I like the white trim on the recessed lights, etc. It matches the other covers you've got.

 

[jonesmechanical]

I like the white trim on the recessed lights, etc. It matches the other covers you've got.

Leaving it for now, too many other more important projects to get done.

Yesterday was a long day. Cleaned out our original 2 car garage bay where I have had my single post bendpak lift. A year ago, I lost the motor in the 510 (vg30e nissan motor) and my 510 has been safely tucked away up on that lift since I pulled the motor. I have been building a vg34 high compression motor, but since starting the garage, put it on hold.

Well, today the datsun was on the ground, move the lift, went down to the leased shop I am moving out of, grabbed the 2 post Rotary lift, and everything went in. By the end of the day, the datsun was back in the air out of harms way.

Everything worked out perfect. After hours and hours of planning, everything worked at as good or better than I hoped.

The old 2 car garage where the lift was:

Old 2 car garage now mostly cleaned out. A bit weird to always have had the lift there since we moved in and then see it all opened up. This garage will have a basketball standard in it that will hang off the ceiling or wall (over 15' ceiling) and will also have the table tennis table, and possibly some other items like a fooseball table or air hockey table in it. With 4 boys, it will be a great place for them to make some noise and keep the damage at bay.

The existing concrete bolts that bolted down the lift just pounded right back into the concrete. it took seconds with a 2 lb sledge hammer.

View from the the wifes garage looking through to the new garage area and through the existing single garage space.

The single post lift foot fit perfectly into the concrete recess:

View of Both Lifts:

Note for others. My original plan was to have the lift right up next to the foundation. Problem is obvious, you when the concrete ends right at the foundation, you cant just have a anchor next to the seam, it will break out. So we moved the lift a bit away from the foundation. Note to others: IF YOU NEED TO HAVE THE LIFT NEXT TO THE FOUNDATION, MAKE A BLOCK OUT IN THE FOUNDATION SO THE SLAB CAN EXTEND INTO THAT AREA, OR PLAN FOR IT SOMEHOW SO THE SLAB CAN HANDLE IT. Fortunately, I had about 5" to spare between the two lifts. It actually aligned the the lift perfectly if you pull into the lift side of the garage tight to the left. If it were tight to the foundation, then you have to jog over a bit to center up on it.

Check out this clearance, it was over an inch, but with the 510 on the lift, it deflects down this tight. I will be modifying this lock release on the Rotary lift. With my coupe on it, with its additional 700 lbs of weight, I bet it will hit, no reason to have it that close.

The Datsun fits up there perfectly. There is 6'8" of walk under height under the lift, the stairs clear the trunk or hood on any of my cars perfectly, and the lift comes down 4' short of the bathroom door, so egress in/out of the bathroom is easy if the lift happens to be down. The layout of the single post lift allows for me to either park my crew cab long bed c2500 chevy utility truck (21.5' long) nose under the lift and my pipe rack clears, or I can have my M coupe parked under the datsun (or vice versa) and still have space for my Wife to park her Volvo behind them if the kids want to play in her garage.

View from the existing single stall garage:

A few other photos. Both the 400e and 500sl are a good college friend that is moving back to Utah from Arizona. He just needed a place for them for a bit. 500sl is beautiful, only 25K miles, its like brand new, but still 15+ years old, I think he picked it up for less than $18K. The 400e is a mint 100K mile example that he found for $2K that a local mercedes shop said it would take thousands to fix a electrical issue, ended up being a simple relay lol. It has later model e class e420 sport wheels on it.

Also, a good friend of mine, and fellow 510 gear head had this video interview done about his passion for Datsuns. A great video, and window into my passion for datsuns.

http://vimeo.com/42180356

 

[maxwedge]

Love the garage. Love the cars. Datsun 510 has always been one of my favorites. That video makes me want go back to the 70's and do a few Mulloholland runs.

 

[iancoletx]

Awesome, awesome, thread. I thought it couldn't get much better and then you dropped all kinds of turbo BMW and exotic muscle into the mix. You have crazy good taste man, the garage and cars are looking awesome. Keep living the dream!

 

[SiGmA_X]

Nice Greg! I bet the rings look a good bit different in person. When you some day have time, it would be sweet to see the different options and go from there! I'd be putting it pretty far down the list tho, specially if you are happy with the white. That IS what counts!

What color are you going to powdercoat the steel for the lift-foot?

So what did you do with the slab? Maybe I just misunderstood how the slab/footer were designed for the mounting of the lift. You are supposed to have at a absolute min six inches from a bolt to the edge of slab, and that would also apply to the slab/footer joint, from what my ME said. I also kind of doubt it -really- matters, from what I've seen with other lifts and horrid, not-3k-PSI, really thin slabs and no issues...

 

[jonesmechanical]

Nice Greg! I bet the rings look a good bit different in person. When you some day have time, it would be sweet to see the different options and go from there! I'd be putting it pretty far down the list tho, specially if you are happy with the white. That IS what counts!

I do need to do a few of them. I am a bit worried if I detail it that much, it will extend to all the electrical termination. Everything is wired now with Control4 Automation, and there really are limited options with those cover plates. I think the contrast shows exactly what I am going for, old with new. Raw with finished.

What color are you going to powdercoat the steel for the lift-foot?

Details like that keep me up till these hours at night. I have been going back and forth, Ill keep you posted

So what did you do with the slab? Maybe I just misunderstood how the slab/footer were designed for the mounting of the lift. You are supposed to have at a absolute min six inches from a bolt to the edge of slab, and that would also apply to the slab/footer joint, from what my ME said. I also kind of doubt it -really- matters, from what I've seen with other lifts and horrid, not-3k-PSI, really thin slabs and no issues...

I put a ton of thought and design into the dropped elevation footing for the single post lift, and that worked out perfectly. Yes, what I didn't think about was on the 2 post lift where one of the posts I had designed to side right against the foundation wall, and one of the anchors would have been just a inch or less from the seam edge of the slab where it meets the foundation wall. I had room to spare, and I moved it adequately away.

Here is the funny thing: these lifts are very stable. I asked the pro installed what kind of crazy stuff he has seen, like cars that have tipped over, failures etc. He said, the worst one was a 2 post lift fell over. It was a new jeep, he was trying to figure out what happened. Both posts tipped. Turns out that the shop floor when built was way out of level, so they grouted it, the tiled it. Where many of the lifts were installed, the grout was 4" thick!! The lift lasted as is, as installed with essentially no anchoring, and it didn't come out until a technician improperly setup a jeep on a lift and took off the front tires. CRAZY. I know that having one bold close the seam would not have been an issue, but when you can do things 100%, why not.

 

[jonesmechanical]

This week was crazy. I moved more stuff up from my Provo shop. We have a big family event this weekend (son getting baptized), parents coming into town, relatives, friends etc. My dad hasn't seen any of the shop in person yet. So of course, its all about getting it done.

I had the coupe towed up from Provo, it is now up on the lift. Very exciting. I gave it a love bath, Man, that car really does it for me, even sitting still. Soon the beast will be running on E85 breathing like it has never breathed.

One pita lately has been a certain sub contractor that owed me trade that has fallen through (predictably so). He does pavers. We had him over, we got all excited, and he has been MIA. He committed to getting all of the gravel laid out for my concrete guy, and do some details for the party (like some planters, edging etc). Well, after stalling for a week, I just ordered a truck load (13 yards, like 11 tons??!!) of pea gravel. I rented a mini skid steer, which I have never operated, and I went to town. The loader was $175 for 24 hours, and the gravel was $180.00 dumped at the foot of my driveway (no way driving that on the concrete at this stage).

It went great. Concrete finished is coming first thing, and its ready to go. The garage door on the back side was sweet. I actually drove the skid steer under the coupe (on the lift) and through to the back garage door. It was awesome to enjoy a convenience that I had designed my self.

Here are some pics:

YES, THE LANDCRUISER FITS UNDER!!

THE PEA GRAVEL:

THE "PEA" WEE HELPER, MY 5 YEAR OLD SUPERMAN FAN:

I can't tell you how great of a day it was. Working with by boys, especially the one in the pics. As little help as he was, he was all about helping Dad. We shared great moments. It was satisfying for both of us to see a nasty broken and ugly dirt turn to something finished so quickly. And no compaction necessary! As great as it looks right now, its going to look amazing to see the concrete go it. The kids will have their own Laguna Seca Cork Screw feature now as they can do laps around the property. Before, they offroaded to go around (before and during the construction). Now, is going to be a high speed loop, I may have to install convex mirrors at each corner lol.

These projects have brought my boys out, and today they saw me learn, and stumble, and finally succeed at running a intimidating machine for the first time. I even got my timid superman 5 year old up on it and he ran it until I feared for my structure and life (it was on the "turtle speed").

Another big decision:

I have been planning for epoxy. I have had heart ache about it for a month now. Finally, I am close to turning over the garage to a trusted painter who knows what he is doing, and I pulled the plug.

I have decided on doing porcelain tile. I am going to do it my self, I have done a ton of tile, but nothing of this scale. The concrete is VERY flat. I found a source that can do either 20"x20" tiles or 24"x24" tiles that are rectified, polished, matte, or even higher grip ones for about $2.50 per sq ft shipped. My epoxy was going to be about that. I can see 5 years from now looking at all the nasty damage, mars, scrapes, welding burns, etc driving me nuts. I could also see the checkerboard looking like epoxy checker board, trying to be something it isn't (like a sweet VCT floor, only not).

Also, Epoxy completely turns your garage upside down, everything out, and everything out for a while. Tile on the other hand, I can handle in doses, and in sections at my own pace.

The tiles are a PEI 5, and are color through body. For a lot of effort on my part, and almost no more expense, Its going to be long term solution will look great for decades, and I don't have to worry about tip toeing around on it with all the stuff I like to do.

I can just imagine a pushing a 300 lb A/C unit across the floor, it catching a stray sheetmetal screw, and wham bam thank you mam, exposed concrete art right in the middle of the beautiful epoxy.

If I couldn't do the tile my self, or didn't enjoy the idea of doing it, and the material was significantly more that the installed epoxy, then I would go ahead and to the epoxy.

THANKYOU JACK OLSON FOR INSPIRING ME TO MAKE THE PLUNGE AND REALLY BE HONEST WITH MYSELF ABOUT THE EXPECTATION I HAVE OF MY FLOORING CHOICES.

I am already catching flak by one of my neighbors that is a true car guy. He said: "Greg, this isn't going to be a shop, this is going to be too nice, too nice to work in. Tile?? Tile?? oh boy....WHY???? Epoxy is awesome! I love mine!!" Unfortunately, I don't love his at all. I do believe there are some epoxy products that I would be fine with, but I have way too much energy, effort, thought, and time into this to be on the fence about it.

And to my surprise, my wife said: "Wow, you are asking me?? What to do in your shop?? Well, I love the idea of tile, I hate the idea of that toxic epoxy, DO THE TILE!!"

Didn't expect that at all from her. I guess I should be asking her more questions after all. Tile it is. I will post the samples, take some votes, and then do what I want .

 

[jonesmechanical]

Love the garage. Love the cars. Datsun 510 has always been one of my favorites. That video makes me want go back to the 70's and do a few Mulloholland runs.

Lets do it!!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Awesome, awesome, thread. I thought it couldn't get much better and then you dropped all kinds of turbo BMW and exotic muscle into the mix. You have crazy good taste man, the garage and cars are looking awesome. Keep living the dream!

Thank You!! I'll take credit for the F/I BMW hardware. I have a few friends that have hit it BIG, and what they loose in depreciation on their new cars, I could replicate my shop every other year. I am very happy with my classic dime and my "old 99 BMW M coupe". One of our clients just bought a new S63 AMG. He said, "I couldn't justify spending an additional $40,000 on the V12 AMG." All I could think was "Wow, trade that in next year, and its going be close to a 6 figure loss." It doesn't matter to him at all, I get it, but its a bit obscene. Of course, he has spent a ton of money upgrading all of his HVAC to top of the line stuff. Its true, a poor person never hired anyone. He is doing well, and he is spreading the wealth. Hopefully he is more conservative than I believe and is enjoying life while setting things up for the future.

Love the one. I could see having a 1M, but problem is, the new E90 would likely be cheaper in the future because of rarity, and I like the idea of turbo'ing one of those V8;s, that would be great. But the 1M really has the quirky styling I like.

 

[JakeKohl]

After about 10 hours of reverse engineering existing switches, relays, capacitors, and mapping the existing circuit logic, a good friend and I got the hoist and trolley rewired.

The existing control for the trolley was a simple 3 wire one, but it did have the capacitor integrated into the control handle. The hoist runs about 5x's the amps running at full load. The hoist control handle (the one we re used) had 4 wire control, but all the capacitors were up within the hoist.

So we figured out a way to run the hoist on only 3 wires. This was very important because buying a 4 wire retractable electrical reel is at least $1000.00. A 12-3 wire reel can be had for less than a 10th of the cost.

We figured everything out, installed a 20 amp three pole double throw toggle switch (so you can either control the trolley through the control or the hoist). It would have been nice to have that switch in the control, but that would have required more than 3 wires.

First time we hit it right. It works flawlessly.

Here are a few pics:
40' retractable reel we cut both ends off of, installed the hoist control on one end, and then wired the other into the switch junction box.

Then a shot of the electrical cables that are long enough to travel with the hoist/trolley. There is constant power 110V, Control wiring for the Trolley, and Control wiring for the hoist. Total of 9 wires leads through 3 cables. All cables are rated for the amperage draw, as are the switches, and the retractable reel.

This website has ruined me. Now I've got to make a quick trip to the hardware store to get the materials to run this wiring in the wall for my hoist before my insulation guys show up! What an idea!!!!

I have the same size beam and hoist arrangement for lifting boats/engines and was trying to figure out a neat way of managing the remote hoist control station.

 

[jonesmechanical]

This website has ruined me. Now I've got to make a quick trip to the hardware store to get the materials to run this wiring in the wall for my hoist before my insulation guys show up! What an idea!!!!

I have the same size beam and hoist arrangement for lifting boats/engines and was trying to figure out a neat way of managing the remote hoist control station.

This website has ruined me also. Thing is, its all these details that just take a bit of personal effort that make all the difference. Many portions of my project I can directly attribute to influence/ideas from other contributors here on GJ.

Concrete went in today. So awesome. These guys are amazing. Grade was very challenging to get everything to shed correctly, and they nailed it. They took their time.

30 meters of boom on this pump truck. Insane feat of engineering.

 

[UN4GTBL]

That looks fantastic.

 

[Plump]

All I can say is, "Dude".

Wow.

 

[nsimps]

Great progress Greg! You can't beat the quality time with the kids. I don't have any yet, but still remember working with my dad out in the shop. They were some of the best and we still work together when the occasion allows. Seeing the progress is good motivation to finish up mine!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Thanks for all your comments. Update on everything. I have been really busy completing the outside landscaping, stair railing, and many other details. I have a operational office now, A/C is up and running and working better than I could have imagined with it open to the garage.

Here are some photos of whats been done, sorry about the mess.

Hung the huge, cumbersome, but necessary every once in a while Little Giant 17' and 21' a frame ladders with a garage gator lift. They tucked perfectly away between the single post lift and the archway.

Outside shots:

Stair railing pics. This is the first project I have ever done of this magnitude. I have experience tig welding stainless piping, but have never done and MIG heavier steel work. It was simple to learn, especially with a nice Miller Welder I found used locally. I used 3"x1" 1/4" wall square tubing for the verticals and caps on the railings. The horizontals are 1/2"x1/2" 1/16th wall square. Total materials only cost me $200, but it took about 40 hours to complete them. Did it all by my self! I did have a helping hand from clamps. I finished them off using a 4" grinder with 80-120 grit sanding pads, then cleared it with rustoleum. It took a bit of experimenting with the sanding pattern to get the look I wanted, not that I knew what I wanted .

Here are some raw fabrication pics:

A Few Finished pics of the railings:

I recently found a incredible deal on a really cool and compact antique (1950's best I could tell googling) Western Fountains Inc water fountain that was never installed (only $40!). It did take rebuilding the dry valve gaskets, but it all works now. It fit perfectly on the short wall of the bathroom door, and the water and drain connections were already there from the small Ikea bathroom sink. So nice to have water in the garage. I polished up the cast mount a bit.

I am not one that likes to work alone, but have really forced my self to tackle projects I wouldn't normally do. I have found that with a bit of creativity its amazing what you can do by ones self, and it really is satisfying. The railings were a tremendous amount of work, but I would do it again in a hear beat. It was lots of fun. Originally I was going to do stainless cable, but I could see it being expensive and complicated. Honestly, I was nervous about the amount of tension that is required to make it function as a railing. The 1/2x1/2 was a simple and cost effective solution that went faster than I could have imagined (20' lengths). Hopefully in the next month, hopefully things get much more organized, and tile will be close to in. Here is the sample that I will be going with, its a through body porcelain 24"x24" PEI 5, and has a nice texture to it (just smooth enough, but great for non slip) found it for $2.75 shipped per sq ft. The samples were 12"x24". I will do a checker board patter throughout, maybe on a diagonal with a border.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Wow. Looks amazing!!! Can't wait for a finished photo tour, but wow. Great work Greg!!

 

[JimVonBaden]

Beautiful work!

Jim

 

[Sunbimmer]

Very nice and inspirational,
subscribed!

grtz,

Hugo

 

[TurboCup87]

What a great build! You've shown a lot of imagination.